-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Real Madrid recovered from going a goal behind to beat rivals Atletico Madrid 3-2 on Sunday to return to the top of the Spanish Primera Liga ahead of Barcelona .

But they did not have things their own way at the Bernabeu and went into the interval trailing after a flowing Atletico move saw the ball reach former Real striker Jose Antonio Reyes , who curled home a delightful shot to give the visitors the lead .

But Real were a different side after the break and levelled in the 49th minute when Xabi Alonso netted from close range .

And six minutes later , the home side were ahead when defender Alvaro Arbeloa -- who like Alonso moved to Madrid from Liverpool last pre-season -- superbly cut inside his marker before stroking the ball home .

Madrid made it 3-1 in the 62nd minute when top scorer Gonzalo Higuain took advantage of a defensive mix-up to fire home .

However , the scoring was still not over and Alonso turned from hero to villain when handling the ball in the area , with Diego Forlan slotting home the resulting penalty .

Forlan missed a golden chance to level in the final minute when firing into the side-netting , but Real Madrid held on to move ahead of Barcelona , who scraped a narrow 1-0 victory at Mallorca on Saturday , on goal difference .

The victory was Real 's 11th in succession and continued their recent domination over their city rivals , with Atletico not winning a derby match since 1999 .

In other matches , Sevilla 's recent poor run of form continued with a 3-0 defeat at Villarreal , for whom veteran Frenchman Robert Pires came off the substitutes ' bench to score a superb third goal .

Struggling Xerez thumped Valladolid 3-0 in a battle of the bottom two clubs , while Deportivo La Coruna 's Champions League hopes took a knock after they slumped 3-1 at home to Getafe .

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Real Madrid recover from going a goal behind to defeat rivals Atletico 3-2

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The victory extends Real 's winning run in the Primera Liga to 11 matches

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The result sees Real return to the top of the Spanish table on goal difference